Women's basketball: CU Buffs move up to fourth in Pac-12 race

Jeffery OK after rolling ankle

CU's Chucky Jeffery drives between Washington's Aminah Williams and Talia Walton during the first half of Sunday's game in Boulder.
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CLIFF GRASSMICK
)

For a brief moment on Sunday, it appeared Chucky Jeffery's last regular season home game would end in devastating fashion.

Less than a minute into the second half against Washington, the star point guard for the 20th-ranked Colorado women's basketball team crumbled to the floor with what appeared to be a serious injury.

Luckily for the Buffaloes, Jeffery only rolled her ankle. She returned to the court a few minutes later and helped her team to a 68-61 victory against the Huskies.

"As soon as something happens like that, you feel a sting for a little bit," Jeffery said, "but I got up, taped it up a little bit, walked it off and took some medicine."

Her return, with about 15 minutes, 30 seconds to go, gave the Buffs the shot of energy they needed to pick up a huge win in front of 3,577 fans at Coors Events Center.

"It took us a while, a couple of minutes, to shake it off," teammate Brittany Wilson said of Jeffery's injury. "After that, I got the girls and I said, 'She'll be fine, she'll be back.'"

Jeffery wasn't stellar on offense, but recorded the 29th double-double of her career (11 points, 13 rebounds) and dished out four assists to help the Buffaloes jump over the Huskies and into fourth place in the Pac-12 standings. The top four teams will get a first-round bye in the Pac-12 Tournament, and CU now has the inside track for that.

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Arielle Roberson scored a team-high 16 points and Wilson added 13 points for the Buffs (22-5, 11-5 Pac-12), who have won seven games in a row. Washington (19-8, 11-5) lost its second straight.

"We knew what was at stake, but we just wanted to come out and play like a regular game," Jeffery said. "They're a great team and they can score the ball, so for us to come out and hold them to 61 points, I think that's really good for our team."

CU took an 11-point lead into halftime, but Washington took advantage of Jeffery's injury to cut the CU lead to five early in the second half.

"I felt like that injury took the air out of the balloon a little bit for us," CU head coach Linda Lappe said. "I felt like our demeanor kind of changed right when that happened and we lost a pretty decent lead.

"There's a comfort level with having Chucky on the floor with our entire team."

Shortly after Jeffery came back into the game, Roberson scored all six points in a 6-0 CU run that gave the Buffs their biggest lead of the game, 44-32 with 12:43 to play.

Washington didn't make things easy on the Buffs, however. The Huskies went on an 11-0 run to cut the CU lead to 44-43 with 10 minutes to go.

CU never lost its lead, but Washington stayed close the rest of the way.

"Every time they made a run and got it close, I felt like we responded in a great way and showed a lot of heart, a lot of energy," Lappe said.

After Washington pulled within 44-43, CU scored four points in a row. Washington matched that with four more points to again pull within one, but CU scored the next eight.

With 2:39 to play, the Huskies hit a bucket to cut the CU lead to 59-57, but the Buffs rallied again. Jeffery had two great assists to Jen Reese, who knocked down a pair of jumpers to extend the lead to 63-57 going into the final minute.

Jeffery and Roberson combined to go 5-for-6 at the line in the final 49 seconds to seal the win.

For Jeffery, who had a season-high seven turnovers, it was a satisfying finish to an emotional day. She and fellow seniors Brenna and Meagan Malcolm-Peck were honored before and after the game, and all three had several family members in attendance.

"It was kind of nerve-racking a little bit," Jeffery said. "I had way too many turnovers; I think that was a testament to that. I was kind of being tentative a little bit. I got back in it and I just kept playing basketball.

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